Welcome to Ares...a little fishing village by the sea. They're famous for their yearly festival to San Juan (I think it's San Juan), where they make spectacular designs on the street from flowers, shells, sawdust, nuts, and other plants. The center square was a picture of Jesus:
And then the other streets, filled with many different designs, all went out from the center art piece. Here's a few examples:
Isn't that amazing? They've been gathering the materials for weeks...and from what I hear, they do it all in one night.
Ares has a really interesting religious history as well. I'm not sure when, but about a hundred years ago, the people of Ares were very weary of the taxes imposed on them from the current Catholic priest. They discovered that the only way they could avoid the tax was if they converted to another religion. Therefore, they invited the evangelical missionaries to their town, and they all "converted" to Protestant Christianity. So it's hard for missionaries there, because everyone says, oh, we converted. Our families converted. They don't realize that it's a heart change...and not just SAYING that you're evangelical, yet still taking your kids to first communion and baptizing your babies. Haha. It's kinda funny, but sad at the same time.
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